Inquiry into the education of boys is an unusually blatant sexist doument. It show the usual disregard for men and the admiration for "alternatives", women, homosexuals, foreign cultures, etc...
It is worth the read and worth a much better dissection than what I have had time and patience for.
Spot the contradiction:
The Association:
works to eliminate all forms of discrimination in curriculum in institutional practices
and in policies;
encourages and supports women, so that they can effectively pursue careers in
education;
encourages and supports women in the decision making processes at all levels in the
education system;
responds to issues of concern for women both in education and the community;
lobbies for further reform and change generally to enhance the position of women in
education and society.
This text in one of the most pretentious and disgusting sexist thing i have ever seen.
Spot the arrogance. Spot the stupidity. Spot the hatred towards men. Spot the sexism. Spot the admiration for anything but heterosexual white men. Spot the disregard for your own culture (hint: the word "alternative"). Spot the admiration for sexual and other freakshows.
1.3 AWE is committed to ongoing research
Aaaaah, so scientific! You really think you know what research is?
2.0 Gender Justice
2.1
... in examining alternative constructions of gender,
Yes! It is alternative! It must be great!
The postmodernists have carefully explained how it is impossible to live without construction and deconstruction.
Why not deconstructions of gender? Would that not have been still more impressive?
The widely held perception that all girls are out performing all boys as a consequence of gender equity policies aimed at girls, and the pro-feminist agenda generally, has fuelled the argument for the pendulum to swing back in favour of boys. The proliferation of media reports on the under-achievement of boys in testing results has added to this perception.
However, the generalisations found in the popular press ignore the vital questions; "Which boys?" "Which girls?" Factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, sexuality and disability
profoundly affect the performance of both boys and girls and should be taken into account in any measure of performance.
Here we try to avoid the simple statistical facts by pretending to dig in to detailed knowledge.
School based policies and procedures and the role of staff play major roles in influencing
both boys and girls in the construction of gender.
... construction / desconstruction again. How elegant!
2.2 AWE notes with concern the failure of the present "what about the boys" debate to address
issues related to boys' sexual behaviour and sexual responsibility. In addition to the well-
documented dominance of young men in crimes of sexual violence, and the alarming
prevalence among them of attitudes which pre-dispose young men to violence against
women and girls, recent research both in Australia and Great Britain reveals that many
young men fail to accept responsibility for their sexual behaviour.
What about the women? Getting pregnant and sucking the finances out of a man? False accusations of rape? Female domestic violence...
3.0 Staffing of Schools
The AWE believes that the curriculum promotes narrow portrayals of masculinities and that narrow subject selection by boys is not effectively addressed by secondary schools. While much of the curriculum continues to be dominated by stories of masculine achievement,
Did you not observe the blank page at the end of the book? That is the list of female achievments.
Do you really want 537 blank pages added to the book? Or should we rip out Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven and the other sexist pigs?
many boys are observers only and some boys, most notably indigenous boys, boys from non-English speaking
background, working-class and homosexual boys see little representation of their experiences in the
curriculum.
To hell with white heterosexual men. More multiculturalism and sexual perversions please!
How can you respect a white man if he does not have regular sexual intercourse with men or other animals.
Dominant images of masculinity and a narrow
We are so broadminded.
focus on employment opportunities
predispose many boys to chose maths and science whether they have an interest or aptitude in these areas or not.
There is no genetic predisposition for men towards mathematics or engineering! Those greedy men chose math to get rich!
4.0 Construction of Gender
... more postmodern bullshit...
5.0 Social Justice and Educational Equity
Are you teachers or Judges?
6.0 The Teaching Profession
One popular theory suggests that it is the feminisation of the teaching profession which is to blame for the poor performance of some boys in schools.
AWE totally rejects this notion. Although over 70% of teachers are women
But, nota bene, here it is not suitable to demand an equal number of men and women in the profession.
the vast majority of administration position in schools and systems are held by males. It is at this policy making level that decisions are made in relation to curriculum content and structures in schools.
Damn men again. They force us to teach about masculine achievement. When we get the administration jobs we fix that.
The source of the problems is the men in the administraton. Besides, being an administrator must be fun. Otherwise the men would
not do it.
A simplistic
Here we prentend deeper knowledge again. If you disagree, your idea is "simplistic".
approach which deducts that male teachers produce high achieving motivated boys must be rejected outright.
We are out of arguments here. Best to reject outright.
Do not discuss quotas and any need for balance between the sexes. That is strictly for the boards of commercial companies and other fun places where women are a minority.
Both male and female teachers must be made aware during pre-service and later in-service courses of the vital role they play in providing a classroom environment in which a variety of teaching and learning styles are evident and that their styles need to extend into a general acceptance of ways gender is constructed.
Gender construction again? Have you ever heard about DNA? What is a chromosome, perhaps?
The people who did put this document together are not suitable for their jobs. I wonder what they possibly are suitable for?
They are the product of education in humanities: you can write, but you cannot think.
